1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to synthetic chemical insect attractants. More particularly, the invention relates to chemical attractants and use thereof to detect, survey, monitor, and/or control moths (Lepidoptera).
2. Description of the Art
Many species of moths (Lepidoptera) are pestiferous. Larvae or caterpillars of a number of species of moths are serious pests of agricultural crops throughout the world. In the family Noctuidae, in particular, are many species of cutworms, armyworms, fruitworms, and others that cause severe losses of vegetable and fruit, as well as forage, and fiber crops and necessitate the use of large amounts of pesticides to reduce these losses. Three important species in western North America are the bertha armyworm (Mamestra configurata), the spotted cutworm (Xestia c-nigrum), and Lacanobia subjuncta. These are pests of many vegetable and forage crops, and Lacanobia subjuncta has recently been identified as a serious pest of apple.
Efforts to control pest moth populations on agricultural crops have relied heavily on broadcast applications of pesticides which are under increasing regulatory pressure. Chemical attractants are widely used to monitor the emergence patterns and distributions of moths on crops. These are exclusively sex pheromones attractive solely to males. They are of limited use in pest control because of the lack of effect on females and because they are not effective as attractants when the same sex pheromones are used for mating disruption by air permeation. The development of chemical attractants for monitoring pest levels and economic injury levels of pest moths on crops has been hampered by a lack of effective lures for females of these species. Similarly, the development of control technologies involving mass trapping of moths or poison baits would be greatly facilitated by the availability of effective lures for females of pest species.
Numerous species of Lepidoptera, including pest species of moths, are attracted to fermented sweet baits. Fermented sweet baits have long been used by collectors of moths and butterflies (W. J. Holland, The Moth Book. A Guide to the Moths of North America, Dover Publishing, Inc., New York, N.Y., 1903, 479 pages; T. D. Sargent, Legion of Night. The Underwing Moths, Massachusetts Press, Amherst, Mass., 1976, 22 pages). lepidoptera and other insects are attracted to natural sources of sugars such as fruits, tree sap, insect honeydew, and plant nectars (M. J. Norris, Trans. Royl. Entomol. Soc. London 85:61-90 (1935)). It is generally considered that such materials must be fermented by microbes to become attractive, possibly due to the generation of specific odorants by colonizing bacteria and fungi (Norris, supra; P. J. Landolt, Florida Entomologist 78:523-530 (1995)). Attraction of pestiferous species of Lepidoptera to such materials has been documented for possible use in pest control, and include several species of Noctuidae (cutworm and armyworm family). These are the corn earworm (L. P. Ditman and E. M. Cory, Journal of Economic Entomology 26:109-115 (1933)), grass loopers (Landolt, 1995, supra), and the tobacco budworm (P. J. Landolt and E. R. Mitchell, Florida Entomologist 80:403-407 (1997)). Large numbers of noctuids were captured in traps baited with solutions of molasses or syrups by W. W. Frost (Journal of Economic Entomology 21:339-348 (1928)) who did not identify them to species. Isolation and identification of the odorants from fermented sweet baits that are attractive to moths would provide a useful attractant for use in monitoring and controlling pest species of Lepidoptera on agricultural crops.
Although numerous synthetic chemical attractants are known for moths, none are based on moth attraction to fermented sweet baits and very few are effective in attracting females. Most synthetic chemical attractants for moths are female-produced sex pheromones attractive to males (M. S. Mayer and J. R. McLaughlin, Handbook of Insect Pheromones and Sex Attractants, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla., 1991, 1083 pages). Several chemicals have also been identified from floral volatiles that are attractive to both sexes of some moth species (primarily Plusiinae) that obtain nectars from certain flowers. These are phenylacetaldehyde, benzaldehyde, benzyl acetate, 2-phenylethanol, and benzyl alcohol (W. W. Cantelo and M. Jacobson, Environmental Entomology 8:444-447 (1979), K. F. Haynes et al., Journal of Chemical Ecology 17:637-646 (1991), R. R. Heath et al., Environmental Entomology 21:854-859 (1992), C. E. Smith et al., Journal of Economic Entomology 36:619-621 (1943), M. Jacobson et al. Experientia 32:964-966 (1976)).
The bertha armyworm, Mamestra configurata, is a pest of numerous crops, including alfalfa, flax, and canola (P. G. Mason et al., Can. Entomol. 130:321-336 (1998)). It is broadly distributed in North America. The spotted cutworm Xestia c-nigrum also is a pest of numerous crops, primarily vegetable crops (J. F. Howell, Environmental Entomology 8:1065-1069 (1979)) and is widely distributed in North America. Lacanobia subjuncta is a recent and serious pest of apple in the Pacific Northwest (P. J. Landolt, Pan-Pacific Entolomol. 74:32-38 (1998)) and is found across the temperate zone of North America. Numerous other species of noctuid moths are pests of nearly all agricultural crops throughout the world.